1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for increasing passenger seating capacity of a wide-bodied aircraft, and more particularly, to a detachable elevated deck structure which is positionable on the main deck floor of an aircraft to provide additional passenger seating by utilizing the upper lobe of the fuselage.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior techniques for increasing the seating capacity of an aircraft have generally involved modification of the external configuration of the fuselage such as by increasing the length, i.e. stretching or other dimension of the aircraft to increase body volume. More recently, the fuselage of wide-bodied aircraft such as the McDonald-Douglas DC 10, the Lockheed L1011 and the Boeing 747 have provided a significant increase in aircraft seating through enlarging both the diameter and the length of the fuselage to create a bigger passenger compartment than in predecessor aircraft. Since body volume is proportional to the third power of body diameter but the floor area available for the main deck seats is proportional to only the second power of the body diameter at a given slenderness ratio, these wide-bodied aircraft envelop a much larger volume per installed seat than the narrow-bodied single aisle aircraft. Accordingly, there is a large amount of upper lobe volume above the main deck floor which is generally not utilized for accommodation of passengers, but rather is only employed for passenger servicing devices such as stowage containers, motion picture projection equipment, air conditioning ducts, etc. Wide-bodied aircraft typically have two aisles, a center section of seats is positioned along the center lane of the main deck floor and standing room is required only in the laterally outward aisles.
Of interest with respect to aircraft seating, is U.S. Pat. No. 2,595,607, granted to B. D. Priebe on May 6, l952, which describes a seating arrangement for a narrow-bodied aircraft. A two level deck structure (FIGS. 5-7) is positioned within the aircraft fuselage. A plurality of back-to-back seats, a configuration now against federal regulations, are situated on the upper deck and extend longitudinally. An aisle is disposed between each sidewall of the aircraft and the centrally disposed seats providing passenger ingress and egress. A stairway connects the lower level and the upper level. The entire structural configuration is designed to be permanently installed by attachment to the structural components of the aircraft and cannot be conveniently detached therefrom.
Of general interest with respect to a two level deck configuration in a passenger vehicle is U.S. Pat. No. 161,488, granted Jan. 2, 1951 to R. A. Meldrum et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 2,405,136, granted Aug. 6, 1946 to F. W. Dittrich, both of which disclose a double deck railroad vehicle. An upper deck is depicted along a portion of a railroad car and is supported by longitudinally spaced columns attached at their lower end to the bottom deck. The structural configurations described in both disclosures are generally of a permanent nature and cannot be removed when not in use. In addition, they completely divide the vehicle into two separate passenger compartments totally isolating the seated passengers in the upper and lower levels.